HISTORICAL CHAPTER I. ORGANIZATION OF OHIO TERRITORY AND STATE. Ohio's history is written largely in the lines which surveyors have run across the state, over its hills and valleys. It has been many times surveyed, from the days when George Washington carried a chain across part of it. to the time when Ohio and Michigan, with rifles in their hands, glared at each other across the disputed northern boundary. The important lines, however, are those traced shortly after the passage of the ordinance of 1787. These indicate various parcels of land which the various states claiming title to Ohio reserved for specific purposes, also the lands set aside by the federal government to care for certain important needs. Among these may be mentioned the Virginia Military Reservation, which was bounded by the Ohio river, the Scioto on the east. the Miami river on the west and a line joining the headwaters of these streams on the north. The Western Reserve was retained by Connecticut to care for its Revolutionary soldiers. It is marked by a line running between Columbiana and Trumbull counties on the south and extends entirely to the lake in the territory just east of Sandusky, and almost to the lake farther east. The United States military- lands start along the northern end of Columbus and extend east and north. To the east they extend considerably beyond Cambridge, on the north to the Greenville treaty line. This line was drawn as the result of a. treaty negotiated by Gen. Anthony Wayne, after he had defeated the Indians in 1794. With the single exception of the Western Reserve and the fire lands, all Ohio to the north of that line was for many years an Indian reservation. The Refugee Lands are a long narrow strip, striking Columbus east of the Scioto river and running just south of Zanesville to the east, set aside by Congress for the English subjects in Canada who had suffered by reason of their loyalty to the colonies. 26 - KNOX COUNTY, OHIO. Students of social science delight to find in this variety of interests in Ohio the reason for its greatness. They claim that the best blood of Virginia, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Massachusetts and other states was invited here, because each felt sure of finding friends and congenial associations in some part of the new territory, and Ohio therefore held the flower of progressive and -dependable citizenship, which accounts for its willingness and ability to take the lead in the councils of the nation and to maintain that place of prominence. An act of Congress dated May 7, 1800, reads as follows : "An act to divide the territory of the United States northwest of the Ohio, into two separate governments. "Section 1. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, that from and after-the fourth of July next, all that part of the territory of the United States lying northwest of the Ohio river, which lies to the westward of a line beginning at the Ohio, opposite the mouth of the Kentucky river, and running thence to Fort Recovery, and thence north until it shall intersect the territorial line between the United States and Canada, shall. for the purpose of temporary government, constitute a separate territory, and he called the Indiana Territory. "Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, that there shall be established within the said territory a government in all respects similar to that provided by the ordinance of Congress, passed on the thirteenth day of July, one thousand seven hundred and eighty-seven, for the government of the territory of the United States northwest of the Ohio river ; and the inhabitants thereof shall be entitled to, and enjoy all and singular the rights, privileges and advantages granted and secured to the people by said ordinance. "Sec. 3. And be it further enacted, that the officers for the said territory, who by virtue of this act shall be appointed by the President of the United States, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, shall receive for their services the same compensations as by this ordinance aforesaid and the laws of the United States, have been provided and established for similar officers in the territory of the United States northwest of the Ohio river. And the duties and emoluments of superintendent of Indian affairs shall be united with those of governor: Provided, that the President of the United States shall have power, in the recess of Congress, to appoint and commission all officers herein authorized ; and their commissions shall continue in force until the end, of the next session of Congress. "Sec. 4. And be it further enacted, that so much of the ordinance for the government of the territory of the United States northwest of the river KNOX COUNTY, OHIO - 27 Ohio as relates to the organization of a general assembly therein, and prescribes the powers thereof, shall be in force and operate in the Indiana Territory, whenever satisfactory evidence shall be given to the governor thereof, that such is the wish of the majority of freeholders, notwithstanding there may not be therein five thousand free male inhabitants of the age of twenty-one years and upwards : Provided, that until there shall be five thousand free male inhabitants of twenty-one years and upward in said territory, the whole number of representatives to the general assembly shall not be less than seven, nor more than nine, to be apportioned by the governor to the several counties in the said territory agreeably to the number of free males of the age of twenty-one years and upwards which they may respectively contain. "Sec. 5. And be it further enacted, that nothing in this act contained shall be construed so as in any manner to affect the government now in force in the territory of the United States northwest of the Ohio river, further than to prohibit the exercise thereof within the Indiana territory, from and after the aforesaid fourth day of July next : Provided, that whenever that part of the territory of the United States which lies to the eastward of a line beginning at the mouth of the Great Miami river, and running thence due north to the territorial line between the United States and Canada, shall be erected into an independent state, and admitted into the Union on an equal footing with the original states, thenceforth said line shall become and remain permanently the boundary line between such state and the Indiana territory; anything in this act contained to the contrary notwithstanding. "Sec. 6. And be it further enacted, that until it shall be otherwise ordered by the legislatures of the said territories respectively, Chillicothe, on Scioto river, shall be the seat of the government of the territory of the United States northwest of the Ohio river ; and that Saint Vincennes, on the Wabash river, shall be the seat of the government for the Indiana territory. "Approved, May 7, 1800." OHIO MADE A STATE. By an act of Congress approved April 30, 1802, the territory of Ohio became a state of the Union. (See United States Statutes, Vol. 2, page 173.) Among the sections of this act of Congress must never be forgotten those referring to the "school section ( i6) in each township which was to be used for school purposes ; the reservation of the salt springs ; also the section referring to the reservation of the one-twentieth part of all moneys received by the state for lands, which sum was to be expended in making suitable roads to and from the east and south to the great water courses, that com- 28 - KNOX COUNTY, OHIO. merce and transportation might be aided materially in their advancement with the growth and development of the newly born commonwealth." THE BOUNDARY SURVEY OF 1812. "Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, that the surveyor general, under the direction of the President of the United States be, and he is hereby authorized and required (as soon as the consent of the Indians can be obtained ). to cause to be surveyed,, marked and designated, so much of the western and northern boundaries of the state of Ohio, which have not already been ascertained, as divides said state from the territories of Indiana and Michigan. agreeably to the boundaries as established by the act entitled, 'An act to enable the people of the eastern division of the territory northwest of the river Ohio to form a constitution and state government, and for the admission of such state into the Union on an equal footing with the original states. and for other purposes,' passed April thirtieth, one thousand eight hundred and two; and to cause to be made a plat or plan of so much of the boundary line as runs from the southerly extreme of Lake Michigan to Lake Erie, particularly noting the place where said line intersects the margin of said lake, and to return the same when made to Congress : Provided. that the whole expense of surveying and marking the said boundary lines shall not exceed five dollars for every mile that shall be actually surveyed and marked, which shall he paid out of the monies appropriated for defraying the expense of surveying the public lands. "Approved May 20. 1812." CHAPTER II. INDIAN OCCUPANCY, TREATIES, ETC. After the Mound Builders, or prehistoric race that inhabited what is now Knox county, came the Indian tribes. These were here when white men first sought out the country to conquer and develop its vast resources, for the general good of mankind, taking a civilized and Christianized view of the matter. Hence it is that where the Indian wigwam stood down by yon river's side, "Grinds the savage white man's plowshare, Grinding sires' bones for bread," as was said by an Indian poet. after looking back over the graves of his forefathers. even after he himself had been educated at government expense. The Mound Builder left his monuments of earth to mark his existence, but the North American Indian did nothing to preserve his history. All that is found today was the result of his touch with the race of pale faces with whom he came in contact just before the settlement of this country. Indian traditions are mere guesswork and are very unreliable, at best. When the white men first looked upon this fair and fertile domain, the Delaware Indians occupied the country. The various tribes of Ohio were generally on good terms with them, each tribe holding certain territory which it called its own for hunting purposes. yet the boundaries were indefinite and the hunters of all roamed at will over the whole country, as a general rule. Each of the tribes held lands adjacent to some important stream or lake, and considered all country through which these water courses run as their own property. Thus the Wyandots held the Sandusky river country the Miamis, the country drained by the Miami river : the Delawares occupied the Muskingum valley, one stream of which. Owl creek, passes through Knox county. All of the country through which this stream flows was, by common consent, considered as belonging to the Delaware Indians—or nation, as it was called. On January 21. 1 785. a treaty was concluded at Fort McIntosh. with the Wyandots, Delawares, Chippewas and Ottawa nations, by which the boundary line between the United States and the Wyandot and Delaware nations was declared to begin at the mouth of the Cuyahoga, and to extend up said river to the portage. between that and the Tuscarawas branch of the Muskingum. 30 - KNOX COUNTY, OHIO. thence down that stream to the crossing place above Fort Laurens, thence westerly to the portage of the Big Miami at the mouth of Loramie creek, where stood Fort Loramie, taken by the French in 1652 ; thence along said portage to the Great Miami or Maumee river, and down the south side of same to its mouth; thence along the south shore of Lake Erie to the mouth of the Cayahoga river, to the place of beginning. The United States allotted all the lands contained in said lines to the Wyandot and Delaware tribes, to live in and hunt upon, and to such of the Ottawa nation as lived thereon ; saving and reserving for the establishment of trading posts, six miles square, at the mouth of the Miami river (called sometimes the Omee), and the same at the portage on that branch of the Big Miami which runs into the Ohio, and the same on the Sandusky lake, where formerly stood the fort ; also two miles square on either side of the rapids of the Sandusky. The southern boundary line mentioned in above treaty passed across the northern part of Knox county. The line forms the northern boundary of this county from the northeast corner to about the center of Pike township, where it enters the county, passing across the northern part of Pike township, near New Liberty, thence across Berlin township near Ankenytown, a little north of it ; thence across Middlebury township, near old Haneytown. In 1795 this line was re-established and extended into Indiana, by the Greenville treaty, made by Gen. Anthony Wayne. So it will be discovered that by this treaty a large domain was ceded to the United States, including nearly all of Knox county. The Indians, however, were permitted to remain here for many years thereafter, even until after the war of 1812 with England. As regards the origin of the Delawares, perhaps no better account can be given of them than that written by Col. John Johnston, who says : "The true name of this once powerful tribe is Wa-be-nugh-ka, that is, 'the people from the east,' or the 'sun rising.' Their own tradition is that they originally, but remote, emigrated from the west, crossed the Mississippi river, ascending the Ohio, fighting their way, until they reached the Delaware river in Pennsylvania, in which region they became fixed. About this time they became so numerous that no record of their numbers could be made correctly. They welcomed to the shores of the New World the great law-giver, William Penn, and his peaceful followers, and ever since this people have entertained a kind and grateful recollection of them; and to this day speaking of good men, they would say, `Wa-she-a-E-le'ne,' or such a man is a Quaker, believing all good men were Quakers in faith. In 1823 I was Indian agent at Piqua, Ohio, and removed to the west of the Mississippi persons of this tribe who were born and raised within thirty miles of Philadelphia. These were the most squalid, wretched and degraded of their race, and often furnished KNOX COUNTY, OHIO - 31 their chiefs with a subject of reproach against the whites ; pointing to these of their people and saying to us, 'See how you have spoiled them,' meaning they had acquired all their bad habits of the white people, and were ignorant of hunting and incapable of making a livelihood as other Indians." In 1819 there were belonging to Johnston's agency in Ohio eighty Delawares, who were stationed neaor Upper Sandusky, and in Indiana two thousand three hundred of the same tribe. Bockinghelas was the principal chief of the Delawares after Johnston went into the Indian country; he was a distinguished warrior of his day and an old man when Johnston knew him. Killbuck, another Delaware chief, had received a liberal education at Princeton College and retained until his death the outlines of the morality of the gospel of the New Testament. Killbuck creek, in Wayne county, Ohio, was named for this chief and a town by the name of Killbuckstown was on the road from Wooster to Millersburg, ten miles south of Wooster and had a place on the maps as early as 1754. When the country was first settled this famous Indian chieftain was an aged man. There were at least two chiefs of the same name. The Delawares had a settlement at Jeromeville, Ashland county, which they left at the commencement of the war of 1812. Captain Pipe was their chief and resided near the Mansfield road. When young, he was a great warrior and a deadly foe of the whites. In talking on this subject, he remarked to white men, "He who will not defend the graves of his dead is not worthy the name of man." He was at St. Clair's defeat, where he distinguished himself as a human slaughterer, according to his own statement. He had a daughter of great beauty. A young chief of nobility fell in love with her, and, on his suit being rejected, mortally poisoned himself with the May apple. INDIANS TRADING AT MT. VERNON. At an early day the Indians, in great numbers, came to Mt. Vernon village to trade. They camped on the banks of the river and brought large amounts of furs and cranberries to trade for goods. They had one peculiar mode of trading. They walked in deliberately and seated themselves, after which the merchant presented each of the number with a piece of tobacco. Having lighted their pipes, they returned the residue to their pouches, which were made of whole mink skins tanned with the hair on, and with a slit cut in the throat, for an opening. In it they also kept some kinnickinnick bark, or sumach, which they always smoked with their tobacco, in the proportion of three of the former and one of the latter. After smoking and talking a while together, one only at a time arose, went to the counter, and, taking up a yard stick, pointed to the first thing he wanted and enquired the price. The ques- 32 - KNOX COUNTY, OHIO. tions were, "How many buckskins for a shirt pattern?" etc., or "How many for cloth for leggins?" Their skin currency had a well established value. A muskrat skin was equal to a quarter of a dollar ; a raccoon skin, a third of a dollar. The Indian, learning the price of an article, paid for it by picking out and handing over the skin or pelt, before proceeding to purchase a second article, when the process was repeated. While the first Indian was trading. the others looked on and said nothing, and when he was through, another stepped up and took his place, until all had finished their trading. No one desired to trade before his turn came and all observed great decorum, never attempting to get the price down, but, if dissatisfied with prices asked him, passed on to another article. They were cautious to never trade when intoxicated, but usually preserved some of their skins to buy liquor and end their visit with a frolic. Several camps were located within this county prior to the war of 1812-14. One was located on the bottoms of Owl creek, just opposite the mouth of Center run, which the old-time settlers called the "Indian fields." Other camps were situated near Fredericktown, and Greentown, now Ashland county, then under the jurisdiction of Knox. In October, 1764, Colonel Boquet came from Fort Pitt (now Pittsburg) with his expedition of about fifteen hundred men. One of the results was the recovery of two hundred white captives, who had been stolen from the early white settlements near the Ohio river and in western Pennsylvania. Many of these captives had grown up with the Indians from childhood. Some had intermarried with them and had half-breed children. When they were thus reclaimed by fathers and brothers who had long mourned their loss, and who had accompanied the 'expedition, many of the captives, instead of rejoicing, were thrown into great uneasiness. They clung to their Indian friends and relations, crying with loud lamentations at the separation, and in some few cases were with great difficulty torn away. Custaloga was one of the main speaking chiefs at the councils. It was supposed his home was at one time at one of the Indian fields so numerously found by the early white settlers along Owl creek valley, a principal and very extensive one of which was Elmwood, a little below the present city of Mt. Vernon. This was on the right bank of the river. It was in 1820 when an Indian squaw was shot, near the line between Utica and Martinsburg, in Licking county. She was of the Stockbridge tribe. She was taken to Mt. Vernon, where she died. A Mr. McLane shot her, and was sent to the penitentiary for the dastardly deed. He and four others were responsible for this diabolical work. McDaniel, Hughes, Evans and Chadwick were the other four implicated. They were engaged cutting wood, when this squaw, and others of the tribe, came up and camped near KNOX COUNTY, OHIO - 33 them. A game of cards was played and the loser was to shoot the old woman. McLane lost the game and hence shot her. The ball took effect in the squaw's thigh, and she was taken to Mt. Vernon by her companions and placed in the old log gunsmith's shop of John Earnhart on High street. But, on account of the cold November winds, she was kindly removed to a log house on the northwest corner of Mulberry and Vine streets, where she died after great suffering. But, Indian like, she never complained or murmured. They buried her on the northeast corner of the old graveyard. For a number of years, in November, her husband would return, to find her grave undisturbed. Her name was Rachel Konkupote and, sad to relate, she gave birth to a female child while lying confined by her wound, and on her death the child was given to John and Judah Bird, colored persons of Morgan or Clay township. The child was named Mary, and the Legislature subsequently undertook to dispose of her. A habeas corpus case followed, was tried before Judge Brown, who gave the child back to the colored people, the Birds. The state finally allowed the family the sum of fifty dollars a year for the support of the child. This was brought about by Hosmer Curtis, who in 1822 was a member of the Legislature. The following record is shown of the bills allowed in the matter of caring for this unfortunate woman who was murdered in cold blood by heartless ruffians : Order No. 3,928—Paying Moody for articles furnished overseers 'of the poor for the squaw that was shot, $2.84. Order No. 3,929—Hosmer Curtis and Mott for expense incurred for sick squaw, $i.00. Order No. 3,930—Jacob Martin, making coffin for squaw, $6.00. There never occurred any serious difficulty with the Indians in the territory now known as Knox county, but in the strip over in Richland county, which territory all once belonged to this county, there was serious warfare at one time, just at the opening of the war of 1812. This being only a concise history of the present Knox county, such warfare will not be treated in this connection. By the treaty concluded at the foot of the Maumee rapids, September 29, 1817, Lewis Cass and Duncan McArthur being commissioners on the part of the United States, there was granted to the Delaware Indians a reservation of three miles square, on or near the boundary of Marion county and adjoining the Wyandot reservation of twelve miles square. Again, by the treaty concluded at Little Sandusky, August 3, 1829, John Mcllvain, United States commissioner, the Delawares ceded this reservation to the United States for three thousand dollars and removed west of the Mississippi river. Thus ended the Indian occupancy in this section of Ohio. (3) . CHAPTER III. NATURAL FEATURES-TOPOGRAPHY AND GEOLOGY Knox county, Ohio, is bounded as follows : On the north by parts of Richland, Ashland and Holmes counties: on the east by Holmes and Coshocton counties; on the south by Licking county and on the west by Morrow and Delaware counties. It is almost in the exact geographical center of the state of Ohio. It is a continuation of the southern slope of the table land which separates the waters of Lake Erie from those of the Ohio river, which finally falls through the Mississippi into the gulf of Mexico. Its surface presents a succession of hills, in part rugged and steep where influenced by the coal measure rocks in other parts symmetrically rounded, and of graceful outlines. where composed of the olive shales of the Waverly conglomerate formation. These hills are all intersected by narrow streams or ravines, tributary to the larger water courses, the latter uniformly occupying ancient valleys of erosion and handsomely bordered by alluvial plains. The ancient river system of Knox county is very well described and defined. There are four distinct traces of these preglacial channels running through the county. The west channel enters the 'county from Richland county, near the center of the north line of Berlin township, and runs in nearly a southerly direction to the middle of the township, thence bearing southwest to near Fredericktown, thence in a southeasterly direction through Morris to Mt. Vernon,. on through Clinton, Miller, Morgan and into Licking county, near Utica. A second channel is traced through Richland county, and enters Knox near the northeast corner of Brown township, thence nearly south into Howard township, to the northeast corner of Harrison. bearing a little to the west, running through the northwest corner of Harrison, touching the corner of Pleasant township, thence enters Clay township from the southeast corner. The tracings of a third channel of this ancient river bed is seen through the county of Ashland, entering Knox county in the northeast corner of Jefferson township, thence bearing slightly to the west, entering Union township near Gann Station, continuing into Coshocton county through the southwest corner of Union township. KNOX COUNTY, OHIO - 35 The fourth and last channel of this pre-historic valley or old river-bed, is traced from the first named channel, just south of Mt. Vernon, thence running due east to the south line of College township near Gambier village, thence in. a northeasterly direction into Howard township, then along the south line of Howard and Union townships, thence bearing to the southeast slightly, through the northeast corner of Butler township and so on into Coshocton county. After this ancient valley was filled up by the drift the modern stream found a shorter course across the spur of hills, near Fredericktown, extending out from the east side, and has cut its recent channel through the rock. Owl creek and the right-of-way of the Sandusky branch of the Baltimore & Ohio railroad occupy the old channel to Mt. Vernon. At Gambier it is the ancient stream which here divided a channel extending southward towards Martinsburg, now filled with gravel and sandhills, and occupied by Big run, which flows northward, a direction opposite to that of the old stream, and becomes a tributary to Owl creek. It should here be stated that geologists tell us that all the old valleys have been filled by glacial drift to the summit of the adjoining hills, and probably all, or nearly all, to the tops of the highest hills in the county; the immense erosion which accompanied the retreat of the glacier sweeping away the great bulk of the drift, taking all the finer materials and leaving the residuum of sand and gravel. Wells drilled for oil on the borders of Owl creek, toward the Coshocton county line. show, that this deposit of coarse gravel extends at least eighty-two feet below the bottom of the valley, and in one instance a log was struck at a depth of one hundred feet. Hence there is here a valley, broad in extent, that was once filled with drift to the depth of not less than two hundred and seventeen feet. through which the channel has been plowed one hundred and thirty-five feet in depth, leaving a succession of terraces, the stream now flowing nearly one hundred feet above the bottom of the old gorge. Following the Columbus road westward toward Mt. Liberty, the surface rises very slowly from the river over a bed of fine, gravelly and sandy alluvium, filled with small bowlders, many of them limestone, then striking irregular drift hills which reach an elevation one hundred and fifty-five feet above the railroad at Mt. Vernon. The material of these hills is coarse, consisting chiefly of gravel and sand, with flat fragments from the Waverly and a few large granitic bowlders. The surface is uneven and billowy, as if piled up by the wave action of the shores when the water stood at this elevation. 36 - KNOX COUNTY, OHIO. Thence to Mt. Liberty the surface rises to the height of two hundred and twenty-five feet above the railroad, the wagon road passing over undulating drift-hills, the material becoming steadily coarser, containing more limestone and more fragments of rock. West from Mt. Liberty, a cut on the railroad at an elevation of two hundred and eighty-five feet above the deposit at Mt. Vernon, shows that the drift is wholly unstratified. In Hilliar township the hills are composed of. tenacious clay drift, the wells showing from eight to eighteen feet of yellow clay, then blue clay, passing into hard-pan on the hills and resting on quicksand in the valley. The timber in this region is beech, maple, oak, white and black ash and black walnut. The wells of Lock, on the south line of Milford, pass through from eight to fifteen feet of yellow clay and from fifteen to twenty feet of blue clay, then on the higher lands striking gravel, on the lower lands fine quicksands. The surface is the same through Milford and Miler townships—an undulating line of country from the finer material of the drift, bordering flood plains through which the small streams flow, generally over beds of water-rolled pebbles, this material resting on unmodified drift. Eastward from Lock, drift apparently fills the old valley of erosion to the foot of the hills east of the Baltimore & Ohio railway line. These hills rise somewhat abruptly, to the height of three hundred feet from the valley. These slopes are covered with drift, so that no rock exposures are found until the descent into the valley of Owl creek is reached, about one mile from Mt. Vernon. The rock is here broken and crushed as if by lateral thrust. An old water plain borders the west side of the railroad from Mt. Vernon to the south line of the county, marked by successive terraces, and from one to three miles wide. It is bordered by modified hills and drift forms southward of the valley in which Owl creek runs, until deflected to the east of Mt. Vernon. The slope of the first hill, which rises to a height of one hundred and seventy-five feet above Mt. Vernon, exhibits the olive shales of the Waverly, covered by Waverly debris, with no evidence of drift, except occasional granite bowlders. On the top of this hill are found thin bowlder clay and granite pebbles. Ascending the next slope to the height of three hundred and ten feet, the outcrop and debris of the Waverly continues with no drift material until passing about twenty feet downward on the southeast side. There granite bowlders are found, and the slope below is covered with drift, mingled with angular fragments of the local rocks. This drift continues to the top of the next hill, two hundred and eighty-five feet, but is thin and the soil is composed mainly of local debris. One mile to the north of the last named is a KNOX COUNTY, OHIO - 37 broad expanse of gently undulating sandy fields, exhibiting no evidence of drift except large scattered bowlders of granite, the soil being like the banks of any stream. In Jackson township the Wakatomaka creek—which has the sources of most of the tributaries in the recently eroded ravines of the coal measure rocks on the east—falls a little north of Bladensburg into the old channel now occupied by Big run, and is bordered by irregular sandy hills of water-washed material, which are continued northward to the junction of Big run with Owl creek near Gambier. At Mt. Vernon, wells sunk in the alluvium pass only through sand and gravel. Those on the sandy slopes strike, first, a yellow clay from ten to fifteen feet ; second, a blue clay from thirty to fifty feet, and third, gravel and sand, and broken stone to bed-rock. That part of the country east of the Baltimore & Ohio railroad consisted originally of a high, undulating tableland, covered with drift of the glacial formation. Erosion has intersected it with narrow ravines and filled it with small streams, leaving a succession of well-rounded hills of very graceful outline, characteristic of the Waverly in this part of the. state. This peculiarity is only modified by the outcrops of Waverly conglomerate. Where this is wanting, or below the bottom of the valley, the hills are entirely without benches; the lines of the landscape are all graceful curves; the hills susceptible of cultivation on the top, and present scenes of quiet beauty rarely excelled. These features change upon approaching the coal measure rocks in the southeast part of this county. West of Ankenytown is a plain of about ten miles wide, without rock exposure, but with occasional gravel ridges, the whole composed of river drift of sand and gravel and some clay on the margin, resting on quicksand and gravel, the whole of unknown depth, filling up. the old. preglacial channel. In the broad valleys of the stream the native timber was mainly hard maple and black walnut ; of the latter, a very large part was destroyed before its value was fully known, but very much has been cut and shipped to market. The large sugar maples in this district thirty odd years ago seemed a strange thing, but the thorough drainage afforded by the deep deposit of gravel fully explains their presence. If the alluvium rested upon clay, we should find soft maple. elm, and sycamore growing upon it, but no sugar maple. On the Waverly hills a mixed forest of beech, hickory, oak and black gum (Pepperidge) ; in a few places on the borders of the stream, hemlock, and on the ridges where the Waverly conglomerate comes to the surface, the chestnut. Of the coal measure rock, the predominating timber is oak. On all the hills are scattered white wood, cucumber, black and white ash and elm. 38 - KNOX COUNTY, OHIO. It was written by scientists in 1880 concerning the county's coal measure that, "Its rocks cover the greater part of Jackson and Butler townships and a small area in Jefferson township. The highest hills in Jackson rise one hundred feet above the upper outcrops of rock and are covered with the bleached and earthy debris of cherty ( impure variety of quartz or flint) limestone. The coal discovered is of a fair quality, in two benches, in places found in paying quantities, but not considered rich in commercial value as mining property. PROSPECTING AND THE RESULTS. About 1870 what was termed as "oil signs'' attracted the attention of enterprising men to the eastern part of Knox county. On the western margin of the coal field in Jefferson. Union and Butler townships were strong indications of dislocation in the rock strata; gas springs were abundant, and from several places it was reported that oil in small quantities was .obtained. A company was organized, territory leased and within ten years or less there had been expended almost a hundred thousand dollars in explorations, mainly under the superintendence of Peter Neff, of Gambier. Eight wells were located in the territory around the junction of the Kokosing and Mohican rivers, and their depths were all between five hundred and ninety and six hundred and twenty-seven feet and about the same material found in all of the borings. Gas, oil and brine were found in great quantities in most of these wells, and from two wells the flow of gas was great. THE NEFF PETROLEUM COMPANY. This was the style of the company that made these first explorations in Knox county. Peter Neff was the leading spirit in the enterprise and about 188o this company was reorganized as the Kokosing Oil Company and it was this company who utilized the product of natural gas in a novel manner. Twenty-five thousand dollars were expended in buildings, forming a plant in which the manufacture of "carbon black" was carried on successfully. There five hundred pounds of No. 1 black were produced daily by the employment of the acid waste of oil refineries, making of it a valuable commercial article, by using a very small amount of natural gas. With eighteen hundred burners, for the consumption of the natural gas, fifty pounds of the "Diamond," or No. I black, per day, and with twenty-eight burners for the consumption of the acid waste, one hundred and fifty pounds of the "Pearl," or No. 2 black, was made. KNOX COUNTY, OHIO - 39 When this enterprise was established the gas wells there had been discharging for ab0ut ten years, but this being before natural' gas had ever been piped, its real value was not known and this use to which it was put was considered a wonderful thing. Really, coal oil was what all were exploring for and yet the natural gas was all that ever materialized in paying quantities in this county. It is doubtful if the finding of large oil wells within Knox county would be of more value to all the people than has been the use of natural gas, now so abundant and cheap. It was in the nineties that natural gas commenced to form a prominent factor in the commercial workings of this county. Then it was that the citizens awoke from their lethargy and secured numerous manufacturing plants, and still retain them with much profit. The gas wells are scattered here and there over the county and the fluid has been piped and made to serve for fuel and domestic heating and lighting as well, and factories have been enabled to run with profit and compete with the section of the country where coal has to be used as a power fuel. THE MOUND BUILDERS. Without going. into the details of this pre-historic race, their strange manners and customs, etc.. the author will be content to simply note a few facts concerning these "mounds" as now to be seen within Knox county. without pretending to offer an theory as to who built the same and at what age in the world's history they were constructed. This topic belongs rightly to the study of archeology and is only mentioned incidentally in a local history. There are, however, the best evidences that the Mound Builders were in Knox county in considerable numbers, a few scattered monuments of this mysterious people still remaining. There is no authentic history regarding this people. The known records of earth are silent—as silent as these grass-covered mounds that perpetuate their memory. Nothing of their beginning or end is positively known today. They probably antedate the various Indian tribes who anciently occupied and claimed title to this soil now called Ohio, though this is only problematical, for the two nations may have been contemporaneous. The townships of Knox county where these prehistoric mounds are to be seen today are Berlin, Clay, Liberty, Morgan. Wayne and Clinton, at Mt. Vernon. The best description found of these was published in a local publication of the county and from extracts from "Howe's Collection," the best authority 40 - KNOX COUNTY, OHIO. in Ohio on such matters, from which works we take the following facts, regardless of their wording and theories advanced : About eighty rods south from the town of Fredericktown, on quite an eminence, is a mound in an excellent state of preservation, it having been kept intact during the period of this county's history of the present race, the white men. Here, William Allen, pioneer, cleared the land, planted fruit trees over it and preserved it. A mile southwest of this mound, in 1830, was perceptible an embankment enclosing a large area. About four miles south of southwest of this point, in the south part of Wayne township, is a mound in the woods, though not so well preserved. Three miles on an air line to the southwest of Mt. Vernon, in Green valley, is a small mound, almost obliterated now by the plows of civilized life. About 1820 Josiah Bonar, a boy long since dead, dug into the center of this mound and found bones in and near the mound. One hundreds rods east of this is another, of similar size, which can scarcely be found today. In the northwest corner of Liberty township there was seen by the pioneers in the woods an embankment with a gateway, enclosing a plat of ground only a few rods in diameter. The ditch inside the enclosure was a hard-pan subsoil, holding water, so as to render it marshy in the bottom. This work is described by one writer. It has the appearance of a military work, but from its proximity to higher ground, and the fact of the earth from the ditch having been thrown outward, would seem to preclude that idea. The mystery deepens when it is learned that the Indians who were frequently asked about these mounds and "earthworks" could throw no light, either historic or traditional, upon their existence here. About the only relics of this race found within Liberty township were discovered on the farm belonging to J. D. Higgins, a mile east of Mount Liberty. On the hill north from his residence is a mound thirty feet in diameter, and was originally ten feet high, but has been greatly lowered by the plowing of the land. It was opened by Mr. Higgins, who found only ashes and a few bones almost reduced to charcoal. In passing to other parts of the county, it should be added that near Fredericktown, at the site of the old Quaker "meeting house," and on land owned at one time by Ellis Willet, a mound was to be seen from thirty to forty feet in diameter and about ten feet high. It stood on the exact spot which Mr. Willet selected for his building site, hence the cellar was excavated directly under the mound and thus it was forever destroyed as a monument to those pre-historic days. Human bones were found within it, and also some articles resembling cooking utensils, charcoal, evidences of fire, etc. These articles are generally found in these mounds when properly explored. KNOX COUNTY, OHIO - 41 Scores of smaller mounds were to be seen at an early date, before the plowshare of civilization had cut deep its way into the soil. In Clay township, in its northern portion, there are several mounds, the largest of which is about two acres in area and was originally (when country was first settled) covered with a dense growth of heavy timber. Charles Murray owned this land in 1880. Smaller mounds near it cover from one half to an acre. In Morgan township may be seen other mounds built by—history does not enlighten us by whom or when. One is on the land formerly owned by James Campbell; it is about five feet high and measures forty .feet in diameter. In the late seventies this mound was opened and nothing secured, save ashes and pieces of charcoal. Smaller mounds abound all around this one, and thousands of arrowheads are picked up annually about the premises. In Wayne township there are evidences of many of these mounds, but the hand of time has obliterated all but one, in the southern part of the township. When the first settlers came in a very perfect work existed within the present limits of the town of Fredericktown. It was located on the highest point of the hill upon which now stands the town. Sandusky street runs directly through it today. The entire work covered probably an acre of ground, and included a portion of the lots on which were later erected the Methodist and Baptist churches. The embankment was circular in form and about three feet high, with a ditch inside, and a gateway opening to the east. A mound was within the enclosure, and its size was thirty to forty feet in diameter at the base and seven to ten feet high. When the timber did not grow there, which likely did not when these works were made thousands of years ago. from this high point of view the top of the mounds at Mt. Vernon, as well as the entire chain along through this part of the country could have been seen. one from the other. Whether made for defense, for signals by means of fires lighted thereon, or for religious burial places, none will ever positively know. The famous mound in Mound View cemetery. at Mt. Vernon, this county, has attracted the attention of thousands of admirers, with the passing of the decades, since the grounds were first used by the white race as a burying place. This is of small size, compared to others in Knox county, but its beautifully rounded and compact built proportions are rare. From its sides and top trees have sprung up that have come to be of large size. On a clear day, from its summit may be seen the village of Fredericktown. This mound has for many years been used for vaults for the dead of the recent generations of white men and women. But the general exterior and fine form has 42 - KNOX COUNTY, OHIO. been left intact and is a marvel of beauty and leads many a man to look upon its well sodded surface and wonder concerning its true, yet altogether forgotten history. MYSTERIOUS WELLS. "Howe's Collection" speaks of historic wells as follows : "When the settlers first came, there were two wells only a few rods apart on the south side of Vernon river, on the edge of the town, the origin of which remains unknown. They were built of neatly hammered stone, laid in regular masonry and had the appearance of being overgrown with moss. Near by was a salt lick at which the Indians were accustomed to encamp. Almost immediately after the first settlement, all traces of the wells were obliterated, as was supposed, by the Indians. A similar well was brought to light, a mile and a half distant, by the plow of Philip Cosner, while plowing in a nearby cleared piece of forest land. It was covered with poles and earth and was about thirty feet deep." That these wells existed and that they were made for providing drinking water for a part of the human race, there can be no doubt. STREAMS, AREA, ETC. The total area of land in Knox county is, by survey, 324,404 acres, three-fourths of which were under cUltivation in 1896, and the balance in woodlands and pasture, with less than four thousand acres marked by authority of the state as "waste land." The county is not noted for its numerous and large water courses, but its domain is well watered and drained by scores of lesser streams which seem to be running far above the original river beds of a previous geological age. The main valleys have thousands of years since been filled with drift soil and a new system of smaller streams has thus been formed. The greater of these streams is the Kokosing river, formed by the confluence of Owl creek and Dry creek, which unite at Mt. Vernon. forming the first named stream. Owl creek has a north and south branch and runs from the northwest to the southeast. The general course of the Kokosing river is easterly through Knox county. The Mohican river simply courses through the eastern part of the county, touching in Union and Jefferson townships. KNOX COUNTY, OHIO - 43 Big and Little Jelloway traverse the northern part of the county, forming a junction in Howard township and also in the same township flows into the Kokosing river. Other streams are Granny creek, Skanks creek, Muckshaw river, Sycamore creek, Big run, Tuma run, north fork of Licking river, Indian Field run, Isaacs run, Wahatomaha creek, Elliott run, north fork Paul river, Herred run, Center run, Yance creek, Brush run, West Owl creek, Colman's branch, and many streams that have never been named in the surveys made of the county. There are numerous fine springs and some small lakes within the county, and flowing wells abound in many sections ; they are sometimes called artesian wells. but do not go to a sufficient depth to properly be so termed. The water of Knox county, in town and city, as well as in the rural districts, is unexcelled in Ohio for its purity. CHAPTER IV. ORGANIZATION OF KNOX COUNTY. Before reciting the first settlements and the manner and customs of those who resided within the limits of what now constitute Knox county, it will be well to acquaint them with the organization of the county, as a legal enactment. The first settlement in the present county of Knox was effected five years before its organization. It was created, as was Licking county, by an act of the Ohio Legislature, January 30, 1808. The wording of the portion of that organizing act as related to Knox county was recorded in the state journal as follows : "Section 2. Be it further enacted, that all that tract of country included in the following boundaries be, and the same is hereby laid off into a separate county, which shall be known by the name of Knox : Beginning at the southeast corner of the fifth (5) township of said tenth (10) range ; thence west along the northern boundary line of said county of Licking, to the line between the fifteenth (15) and sixteenth ( i6) range aforesaid ; thence north to the northern boundary of the military land aforesaid ; thence westwardly along said northern boundary line to the twentieth (20) range of the lands of the United States, lying north of said military lands ; thence north on said western boundary line to the northwestern corner of the seventeenth (17) township in said range, thence east until it intersects the said north boundary line of the military lands; thence eastwardly along said northern boundary line to the east boundary line of said tenth (10) range in the military lands ; from thence south along said range line to the place of beginning. "Sec. 3. Be it further enacted. that it shall be lawful for the coroner, sheriff and constables of said county of Fairfield and all collectors of the county of Fairfield, to make distress for all dues and officers' fees unpaid by the inhabitants of said new counties at the time said division shall take place. and they shall be accountable in like manner as if this act had not been passed. and the court of Fairfield county shall have jurisdiction in all actions and suits pending therein at the time of such division ; and they shall try and determine the same, issue processes, and award execution thereof. "Sec. 4. Be it further enacted, that the temporary seat of justice in the county of Licking shall be at the house of Levi Hays, and the temporary KNOX COUNTY, OHIO - 45 seat of justice in the county of Knox shall be at the town of Mount Vernon in said county. "Sec. 5. Be it further enacted, that the inhabitants of said new counties shall assemble in their respective counties on the first Monday of April next, at the usual place of holding elections in said counties, and proceed to elect a sheriff, coroner, and commissioners for their respective counties, who shall continue in office until the next annual election, and until successors are elected and qualified. "Sec. 6. Be it further enacted, that all justices of the peace and township officers in said counties shall continue to exercise their duties of the respective offices until successors are chosen and qualified. "Sec. 7. And be it further enacted, that all of that tract of country lying north of the aforesaid county of Knox, and south of the Connecticut Western Reserve, and so far east as the line between the fifteenth ( 15) and sixteenth ( i6) ranges of Congress lands, shall be, and is hereby erected into a separate county, by the name of Richland, and shall be under the jurisdiction of the county of Knox, until the Legislature may think proper to organize the same. "This act shall take effect and be in force from and after the first day of March next. ( Signed) "P. BEECHER, "Speaker of the House of Representatives. "JOHN BIGGER, “Speaker Pro Tem of the Senate. "January 30, 1808." The first election under the above act was held April 4, 1808. The officers of election were Ebenezer Brown, Jabez Beers, Samuel Kratzer, judges ; William Gass and Robert Anderson, clerks. Voters were present from the most remote portions of the county. The following shows the vote on the various county officers which were elected at that date, the first set of Knox county officials: County Commissioners—John Lewis received fifty-six votes, John Herrod, fifty-two votes, and Joseph Walker, forty-eight votes. Sheriffs—Silas Brown elected without opposition. Coroner—Jonathan Craig had forty-five votes, Francis Hardesty, one vote. Trustees—George Downs had forty-one votes, Henry Roberts had thirty-six votes, and Joseph Coleman, thirty-six votes. Overseers of the Poor—Moses Craig received twenty-two votes, James Walker, two votes. Alexander "Walker. twelve votes. 413 - KNOX COUNTY, OHIO. Supervisor—Samuel Kratzer received thirty-five votes and Peter Baxter received thirty-six votes. Fence Viewers—The candidates were George Zin, Michael Click and Jesse Severe. "House Praisers" (as the record has it), Archibald Gardner and James Craig, each having had twelve votes. Constables—Gabriel Wilkins received thirty votes, Philip Walker, twenty-one votes, Jonathan Hunt, Jr., fifteen votes, and David Miller, three votes. Treasurer -Benjamin Butler received twelve votes, James Walker, two votes. None of these men were living in 1878. The county commissioners' record shows that among the first acts in the county proceedings, that four civil sub-divisions, called townships, were made from out the newly organized county of Knox—Wayne. Clinton, Morgan and Union townships. (For a description of these see township histories in this volume.) THE "ORIGINAL" KNOX COUNTY TERRITORY. While all that has been said in this chapter on the organization of this county is true, yet it had a name and existed as early as 1800, when by the organization of the Indiana Territory, the counties of St. Clair, Knox and Randolph were taken out of the jurisdiction of the Northwest Territory. By the boundaries given in that action on the part of the ruling power of what is now the state of Ohio, Knox county embraced all of the territory included ir the counties of Scioto, Highland, Brown, Clinton, Fairfield, Clark, Champaign Hardin, Marion, Morrow, Knox and Licking. So, in reality, this county was constituted under Gen. Arthur St. Clair territorial governor in 1788, and continued so to be until the adoption of the state constitution in 1803. By his orders the county of Fairfield was create( December 9, 1800, and so continued without change until February, 1808 when it was made the subject of boundary changes and a separate count organized and named in honor of General Washington's secretary of war Gen. Henry Knox. Until 1848 Knox county had attached to its domain three township which since that date have belonged to other counties and are now a part of Morrow county on the west. These townships are Bloomfield, Chester and Franklin. KNOX COUNTY, OHIO - 47 THE TOWNSHIPS DETACHED FROM KNOX COUNTY. As has already been observed, Knox county at one time had much more territory :than it possesses today. A part of this has been accounted for by the foregoing; now will follow the history of the detachment of what was named Madison, Green, Chester, Bloomfield and Franklin townships. The act establishing Knox county was passed January 30, 1808. The act establishing Richland county was passed the same date, and contained a provision that it should be under the jurisdiction of Knox county until the Legislature should order otherwise. Then, June 9, 1809 the county of Richland was declared a separate township, to be known as Madison, which at the annual election of said year cast seventeen votes, and only nineteen votes in 1811 On January 7, 1812, the county commissioners divided Madison township and established Greene township, which at the annual election of this year cast forty-one votes. March 14, 1812, the court of common pleas ordered three justices of the peace be elected in Greene township. By act of the Ohio Legislature, passed January 7, 1813, Richland county was organized. In April, 1809, Mansfield was established as the county seat of Richland county. ORGANIZATION OF MORROW COUNTY. Knox county in 1848 contributed the three townships, Chester, Bloomfield and Franklin, toward the creation of Morrow county. Chester was organized in 1812 ; Bloomfield in 1817; Franklin in 1823. By the cutting off of Knox of these three important townships, the population was greatly diminished to the extent of almost four thousand people, and it also marred the shape of the territory. A branch of Owl creek passes through Chester township, and Chesterville is its chief town. Its population in 1830 was 778; 1840, 1,297; 1850, 1,620. Enos Miles was the proprietor of Chesterville, situated on the road from Mt. Vernon to Mt. Gilead. As early as 1830 the population of the town was 350. Evan Holt, a Revolutionary character, was among the old-time men of this place, having settled in Knox county in 1808. BLOOMFIELD TOWNSHIP. This, another one of the western townships of Knox county, was attached to Morrow in 1848. Its population in 1840 was 1,251 ; 1850. 1,395 48- KNOX COUNTY, OHIO. Sparta and Bloomfield were early towns of note in this township. It derived its name from the fact that in the spring of 1817, while seeking a name for the new township, John Blinn called attention to the wild flowers in bloom in the field and suggested it be named Bloomfield. In this township, on July 4, 1862, while celebrating Independence day, and at five o'clock in the evening, after speeches were through with, three thousand people witnessed the falling of a balloon with a man in its rigging, the same being up over five hundred feet. The man was killed instantly by the bursting of the balloon in mid-air. FRANKLIN TOWNSHIP. Franklin was the third and last township of Knox county detached and made a part of Morrow county. This was in 1848. It had been authorized in 1832 and named in honor of Benjamin Franklin. In 1830 it had a population of eight hundred. Pulaskiville was for years the chief town of this township. Allen Kelly, from Pennsylvania, was among the earliest, if not the first settler. Colonel Strong was one of the noted military men from this township ; also Bernard Fields. MAKING MT. VERNON THE COUNTY SEAT. It seldom occurs that a county is organized without some difficulty regarding the location of the seat of justice. Men's interests so many times warp their better sense of right and hence factions are often created, regardless of natural locations and advantages for a county seat, and pulling and hauling has been practiced until one side or the other has been compelled by popular opinion to yield. This county was no exception to this general rule, though the fight here was one of pleasantry and void of that foolish violence exhibited in many another county. Before the date of settling the county seat matter in Knox county, there had been two town sites platted near each other, Clinton and Mt. Vernon. Both sought to capture the seat of county government, knowing full well whichever point succeeded in this would doubtless be the chief town within the newly formed county. ORGANIZATION. On February 9, 1808, James Armstrong, James Dunlap and Isaac Cook were appointed commissioners to locate the county seat. In pursuance of such duties, these gentlemen proceeded to the justice of the peace, John Mills, on March 28th of the same year, and were each and severally sworn to discharge their duties as locating commissioners. KNOX COUNTY, OHIO - 49 Clinton was larger than Mount Vernon. It had more stocks of goods for sale; more mechanics ; more homes; more enterprise ; it had the first and only newspaper in the county, at the time ; had the first and only church in the county for a number of years, but perforce. of circumstances (the.shrewd manipulation of men), Mount Vernon won in the spirited contest. .Clinton, it is true. had the advantage of New England Yankee genius, but in the round-up the men at the head of affairs in Mount Vernon outwitted and outgeneraled the men in Clinton, which soon went to decay, after a few years' struggle and strife for supremacy. With all of its business start, its stores, shops, tanneries, the church and printing press to back it, it did not survive as a business point much after the close of the war of 1812 with Great Britain. The manner in which this contest was finally settled by the commissioners has for two generations been told in different ways. The records of such matters are not usually kept intact longer than the results of the decisions. are known, each faction trying to put the most plausible construction upon their side of the reason for the final location where it has been made, hence in this connection we will give what old settlers, whose memory runs back the farthest, state to be the facts, then add another solution of how Mount Vernon won and how Clinton lost the county seat of Knox county. Historian A. Banning Norton (very reliable) seemed, in his day and generation, to favor the theory first given, which is as follows : The commissioners first visited Mt. Vernon.. as that had been selected by the act of the Legislature as the .temporary .seat of justice of the county. They were there received by Benjamin Butler, who conducted a log tavern in the place and who was alsO one of the townsite men of the place. He showed great hospitality, had the men well cared for and a colored man to. groom their horses and make their stay in town as pleasant as possible. His wife, being an excellent cook, spread her tables with all that a man, tired and hungry, could ask for, in a new country. At the same time, the worthy landlord made it appear to the commission that he, with everyone in town, was very busy. He had planned with each man in town to "get busy" and.. with coats off and sleeves rolled up, men might have been seen in all parts of the town, then a forest of dense ,brush patch, plying the ax and shovel and. spade, in improving the streets and doing all that industrious pioneers could to show that the citizens of Mt. Vernon were an enterprising, thrifty set of people and were not afraid of hard work. This included the. landlord as well, as others, so the commissioners were left for a time to stroll ab0ut the little. hamlet in the big woods and deliberate on the matter of its being a proper place at which to locate a permanent county seat. Nothing was left undone,. (4)